French cinema enthusiasts found much to celebrate as the annual City of Lights, City of Angels (COL-COA) Film Festival kicked off its eleventh year with an opening night gala at DGA headquarters in Los Angeles on April 17, 2007.

COL-COA is the brainchild of the Franco-American Cultural Fund (FACF) — a unique collaborative effort of the DGA, the Motion Picture Association, Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique (SACEM), and the Writers Guild of America, west.

From its humble beginnings with six films in 1997, the festival has grown into one of the largest events dedicated to French Cinema in the world. This year’s COL-COA presented 40 films (20 features, 20 short-films) with nine North American premieres. The opening night gala was followed by the Los Angeles Premiere of La Vie En Rose (La Môme), a dramatic musical/biopic of torch singer Edith Piaf, written and directed by Olivier Dahan.

“COL-COA is unique in that it brings the rich tapestry of French filmmaking to the Hollywood community, celebrating artistic similarities and differences at the same time, under one roof,” said DGA President Michael Apted. “The DGA embraces the international spirit of this festival and is very proud to be a partner for the eleventh year in a row.”